RED DEVILS ARE KILLED OFF AGAIN!
MK DONS sank the Red Devils for the second time in five days but Karl Robinson was not grinning from ear-to-ear this time around.
Tuesday’s 4-0 Capital One Cup thrashing of Manchester United was undoubtedly a momentous result in the club’s short history and few could argue they dominated proceedings from start to finish that night.
However, despite a flashy opening to proceedings against Crawley, who share a nickname with the 20-time top-flight champions, this one was not so satisfying.
Dele Alli’s opener was well deserved but by the time Kyle McFadzean was sent off for hauling down Izale McLeod in the box, things were not so rosy.
Former Dons frontman McLeod saw the resulting penalty saved by David Martin though and Benik Afobe, who netted twice on Tuesday, did complete the scoring – but Robinson was low-key in his assessment of this Red Devils clash.
“That first half was sensational stuff and we really should have had a few more,” he said.
“But it’s still a very young team and unfortunately they need to learn how to put teams to bed when they’re on top. Our work ethic and togetherness has got us over the line.
“I thought for the first 30 minutes we were unplayable and I thought we really played Crawley off the park and then we missed chances and had a spell of poor play.
“John (Gregory) has got together a difficult team to play against, a really strong team littered with some quality players. It was a sending off but it was probably something he didn’t have to do as I think he could have got back – it’s poor defending.
“Kyle now has to wait for his chance to get into the team because of that. I’m really proud of the squad and we need to make sure we keep doing the right things heading into forthcoming games.
“We've rode our luck a little and we told them about Izale’s strengths, he doesn’t want it into feet, he wants it in behind so it’s disappointing to concede a penalty in that way.”
Meanwhile, Crawley boss John Gregory had a similar complaint to his opposite number, as his new-look squad continue to find their feet.
“They started very well against us which is what we were expecting after the night that they had on Tuesday night against Manchester United” said the former Aston Villa manager.
“But after 15 minutes we settled down and played our way back into the game.
“We messed up the penalty which would have got us back at one each, but it’s a recurring theme that I keep on talking about every single week – if it had just been based solely on performances I think we would have already been promoted. “We played very well, certainly in the last three matches we have played very, very well. It’s all about winning and we have to win.”
MK DONS: (4-2-3-1): Martin 5, Baldock 7, McFadzean 4, Kay 7, Lewington 7, Potter 7 (Randall 54 5), Alli 8, Powell 7, Hitchcock 6 (Carruthers 66 5), Bowditch 5 (Spence 70 6), Afobe 7 Subs not used: McLoughlin, Flanagan, Grigg, Rasulo
CRAWLEY: (4-4-2): Jensen 5, Oyebanjo 4, Leacock 4, Walsh 5, Dickson 6, Edwards 7, Smith 5, Henderson 6, Bawling 5 (O’Connor 16 4), Tomlin 5, McLeod 5 Subs not used: Ashdown, Bradley, Young, Banya, Rose, Harrold